


(no) absolutes

by havisham



Series: havisham's SASO 2017 works collection [17]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Bullying, Ficlet Collection, M/M, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-11 11:45:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11147742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: Akashi & murder & manipulation: three stories from SASO 2017.Story One: Akashi cheerfully plots Haizaki's murder. The other members of the Generation of Miracles give their input.Story Two: Akashi's a necromancer looking for some necromance. Enter Mayuzumi.Story Three: A strange sickness is stealing through Teikou, and it's making people turn on Kuroko.





	1. fruitful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for SASO 2017, Bonus Round 1: AUs, for the [prompt:]() _Akashi & Haizaki, Haizaki doesn't quit when Akashi tells him to so Akashi kills him instead._
> 
> WELP.

“While I agree that basketball is an important thing,” Kuroko began to say, before he saw Akashi’s raised eyebrow and corrected himself, “... Perhaps the _most_ important thing, I cannot accept murder as a solution to the problem with Haizaki, Akashi-kun.” 

“And besides, he may have parents, family and friends who care for him. It would not do well to take him away from them because he is a terrible person and worse teammate,” continued Kuroko, who seemed to be unaware of the danger he was in, the more he spoke about this issue.

Akashi shook his head. Haizaki was an orphan, and lived with his uncle, who traveled extensively and did not seem to care particularly for him. As far as he could tell, Haizaki had no friends outside the club, and no friends inside of it as well. 

“I don’t need your help,” Akashi said, which was maybe a lie. 

The rest of the club also proved resistant to the idea, although for different reasons. Midorima pointed out the myriad of reasons that Akashi’s plans could go wrong (an impossibility, but Akashi indulged him.) Murasakibara refused to commit to moving the body or any sort of digging. Aomine merely looked at them, bewildered. There was really no room in his brain for anything other than tits and basketball.

Kise supported Akashi a hundred percent, although he earned extra laps by implying that Akashi would not be able to do it without being caught. He was still relatively new to the culture of the club, after all, and had not yet learned that such naked expressions of doubt were always unwelcome. 

*

Finally, it came to this: Haizaki was certainly a pain and a nightmare to deal with, but murder was expensive and hazardous. So Akashi allowed Haizaki to come to practice, to bully Kise, to generally be a boorish and rude clot. During games, he was benched in favor of Kise, which filled him with rage, but still, he was a part of the club. 

“I thought you wanted to get rid of me,” Haizaki said one evening, catching one of Kuroko’s passes and spinning the ball on his finger. His mouth was stretched into a wide, mocking smile, which irritating Akashi more than he was willing to admit. 

“All in good time,” Akashi said pleasantly.  
*

Haizaki’s demise came about like this: it was late afternoon and the club was still deep into their after-school practice. Nationals loomed large within the minds of all of them, and through the shouts of the members and the bouncing of balls and the squeak of basketball shoes on the floor, it was easy to ignore the wail of the sirens. 

At least until Momoi ran in, tears streaming down her face. It was the most terrible thing, she said. A truck, overloaded with fruits and vegetables, had barreled into the gates of the school. So far, there was one known fatality: Haizaki Shougo, who had been skipping practice that day. 

In light of the tragic circumstances, Akashi cancelled the day’s practice. Kuroko gave him a suspicious look as he went by, but Akashi only gave him a serene smile in return.

He could hardly be blamed for out-of-control fruit trucks, could he?

No, not all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See artwork inspired by this work by dw user fickle [here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/24968.html?thread=15660680#cmt15660680). FRUIT TRUCK.


	2. shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for SASO 2017, Bonus Round 1.5: AUs, for the [prompt](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/21931.html?thread=10949547#cmt10949547): AkaMayu, _Akashi is a wizard who binds Mayuzumi's soul to a shadow demon. Mayuzumi is less than impressed._.
> 
> Understatement of the century. Also, this wandered a bit from the prompt.

Everything about Chihiro was grey -- his hair, his eyes, his skin. The latter part may have been a little unusual, but he hadn’t been feeling well in the last few days. Ever since he’d drunk that poisoned sake, he’d been burning up and then vomiting and then, finally, he had slipped into a deep sleep which he couldn’t wake up from -- until now. 

He wasn’t in his dorm-room at school, or even in a hospital room. The place he was now seemed like -- a gardening shed of some kind. A cheerful painting of a smiling sunflower on the side of bag of soil was the only spot of color he could find. Chirhiro couldn’t move. 

Chihiro looked up in bewilderment. A pair of scarlet and gold eyes looked down at him. A redheaded boy, somewhat younger than himself, smiled down at him. “No visible rot, very good,” he said. “How are you feeling, Mayuzumi?” 

“Like I died,” Chihiro said. 

“W-ell,” said the boy delicately, who he would learn was called Akashi, “you did.” 

*

There was a shadow-demon inside Chihiro now, one that bound his soul to his body and kept him from rotting. Or so Akashi said. Akashi had been studying shadow demon lore for a long time (“Oh, since you were ten or so?” Chihiro said, rudely, although Akashi only gave him a serene smile back) and had determined that the demons couldn’t exist on this plane of existence, unless they had an empty vessel to contain them. 

“But I’m not an empty vessel,” Chihiro was obliged to point out. “I’m still here.” 

“A flaw in the spell’s writing, I suppose,” Akashi said with a dismissive frown. “I thought I’d waited long enough too, but then the putrefaction had begun to set in…” 

Chihiro considered what Akashi told him, and considered too the implications of what Akashi hadn’t said. The bottle of sake had appeared in his dorm room quite abruptly. He’d assumed his roommate had brought it in, but now he wasn’t so sure. 

“Mayuzumi,” Akashi said. “Don’t try to go back there. I’ll find a way to move you soon, but promise me you won’t go back to your room.” 

“What? Why?” 

Akashi only shook his head. He was really maddeningly calm. 

*

It wasn’t as if Chihiro could go to class -- he discovered that he was still on school grounds, Akashi had merely been keeping him one of the disused gardening sheds until he woke up -- but he didn’t know what else to do. So, when Akashi was in class, he decided to go back to his room. 

That was easier said than done. While Chihiro no longer felt hunger or tiredness, he had also not bathed in what seemed like weeks. He crept down the halls and scurried over the common spaces, cautious over being seen. But there didn’t seem like there were many people around, and those who were, never looked at him. 

In that way, being undead was exactly like every other day in Chihiro’s high school life. 

He shared a third-floor dorm with another third-year student, Matsuoka. Matsuoka was all right, but a little loud at night. Chihiro wondered if anyone had noticed he was even missing -- 

He frozen at the top of the stairs. The door to his dorm room was open and crisscrossed with yellow police tape. CAUTION, it said, DO NOT CROSS. Chihiro tore through it anyway. Inside, the room was a mess, like someone had deliberately set about to make the most chaotic scene possible. There was a stain on the carpet nearest Chihiro’s bed -- the sake, he supposed. But more arresting was the stains that seemed to be everywhere else -- but especially around Matsuoka’s bed. 

Those were blood stains, Chihiro realized. It looked like Matsuoka had been murdered. Beaten to death in a particularly brutal fashion. There really was so much blood. 

“I told you not to go back here,” said Akashi said from behind him. 

Chihiro whirled around and demanded, “What did you do?” 

Akashi cocked his head, puzzled. “Don’t you mean what did you do? The police are looking all over for _you_ , Mayuzumi.” 

Chihiro rushed at Akashi with a loud cry, arms reached -- and found himself back in the shed. But not before he realized that his hands had gone through Akashi’s neck and chest. As insubstantial as a shadow. 

*

“A shadow can go anywhere, do anything without being noticed,” Akashi said gravely. Chihiro huddled near him. He hated him but it was only near Akashi that he felt real. Akashi could even touch him, sometimes, which was something Chihiro still couldn’t do. 

“You are my best creation,” Akashi assured him, touching his face. Chihiro closed his eyes. “You’re mine and no one else’s, Chihiro.” 

Akashi had lied when he said he cast a spell to bind a shadow demon to a person’s soul. Instead, he had cast a spell to make a person into a shadow demon. And he had succeeded. 

Chihiro was ample evidence of that -- grey hair, grey eyes, grey skin.

He was just a shadow now.


	3. witch hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for SASO 2017 Bonus Round 3: Fan Soundtracks for the [prompt](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/22341.html?thread=13168453#cmt13168453): Akashi/Kuroko, [Witch Hunt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJBH70Lntro) by JudyPhonic.

It started with one of their new managers, who had joined the club just as soon as Kise did. She collapsed mid-afternoon, still holding a basket of towels. The other girls gathered around her, one of them crouched down to help her up. Kuroko was at the edges of the crowd, largely unnoticed, but he was surprised when the dazed girl looked right at him and glared. 

As far as he knew, they had never interacted. He had no idea what he had done to earn her ire. Maybe she thought he was too close to Kise? He didn’t particularly want to be, but he supposed she couldn’t know that. 

He thought about this moment a lot, afterwards. What if he’d been able to stop it then? Talked to the girl, tried to help? Would things have turned out differently? 

*

Another manager collapsed the next day, and then, one of the members of the third sting. Every time, they recovered and the school nurse could find nothing wrong with them. The assistant coach didn’t seem particularly worried about it, but then again, he wouldn’t be worried if a meteor took out half the club membership -- as long as the starting line up all right. 

But then, during practice, Murasakibara collapsed. A shockwave ran through the gym and Kuroko, who happened to be standing next to him, came to him first. Murasakibara, usually disengaged in most things, got up and shoved past Kuroko with a muttered imprecation. Kuroko, when he came to a stop from sliding across the polished wood floor, was aware of many pair of eyes still on him. 

Akashi cleared his throat. “Murasakibara, go to the infirmary. Do you need someone to accompany you?” 

“I don’t need to,” Murasakibara said with a toss of his head. He tore open an non-regulation bag of snacks even though he was still on the court. Given his recent stumble, Akashi allowed it. 

*

“I think people are starting to dislike me,” Kuroko told Aomine over lunch one day. They took it -- where else? -- on the roof most days, Aomine lying on his back, watching the clouds, and Kuroko sticking as close to the shade as he could. 

Aomine didn’t bother replying. He just yawned and rolled over with a quiet snore. When Kuroko sighed and got up, however, Aomine raised his hand in the air, shading his eyes. “I still like you, Tetsu.” 

Kuroko grinned. “Thanks.” 

*  
Midorima collapsed during class. Akashi sent out reminders that all club members were obliged to keep their fluid levels in the summer. Bodily weakness was just not acceptable. Kise fell when he and Kuroko were walking to the library. His arm had been looped around Kuroko’s shoulder, so when he stumbled, Kuroko fell too. 

“Kise-kun, are you all right…?” Kuroko said cautiously, as he got up. His reflexes were slower than Kise’s, who was already up and brushing off the dust from his cardigan. 

Kise gave him a bright, but impersonal smile. “Of course I am, Kuroko-kun. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

*

Kuroko felt what seemed to be a hundred unfriendly eyes staring down at him. His weak presence seemed to have been stripped away, leaving him vulnerable and visible for the first time in his life. He’d always wanted recognition, it was true, but recognition didn’t feel like this. It wasn’t so unfriendly, or so unkind. He looked around for Aomine, but of course, he wasn’t there. 

The rest of them were, though, and they were moving towards him as a group. They did not mean him well, he knew that. 

“Kuroko, come with me,” said Akashi whispered in his ear. His hand was cool against Kuroko’s hot forehead. Kuroko followed him because he had to. 

*

“I don’t know why this happened,” Kuroko said, curled up in Akashi’s bed. Akashi ran a cautious hand through his hair and Kuroko turned to look at him curiously. 

“Something about you, Kuroko, is just divisive. In the old days, they’d probably accuse you of being a witch.” 

“I didn’t do this,” Kuroko said. “Akashi-kun, you do understand this, don’t you?” 

Akashi gave him a sharp smile, strangely toothy. Akashi usually didn’t smile like that. “Of course I do.” 

*

It took Kuroko some time to undo his ties, but he did it. He stumbled out of the fieldhouse and out of Teikou grounds entirely. No one chased him out, but he ran like the hounds of hell were after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the remix of this work by dw user fickle [here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/24968.html?thread=16080776#cmt16080776). (Why so creepy, Akashi!)


End file.
